Incubation vest



June 18, 1957 Filed Oct. 29, 1954 F. M. O'LEARY ETAL INCUBATION VEST 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 20 Inventors Francis M. O'Leary Ear/e I Alexander Elizabeth 0. Mayq Merle H. Ka/fenbdch ATTORNEY June 1957 I F. M. o'LEARY ETAL 2,796,208

INCUBATION VEST Filed Oct. 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.

Fig. 4.

. lnvenrors Francis M. O'Leary E ar/e Alexander E/izabafl; 6. Mayo Mar a H. Ka/fenbac/r ATTORNEY United States Patent INCUBATION VEST Francis M. OLeary and Elizabeth C. Mayo, Frederick,

fi rie HAKaltenbach, Oak Park, 111.

Application October 29, 1954, Serial No. 481,286 (Filed under'Rule 47(a) and 35 U. S. C. 1 16) 1 Claim. (Cl. 224-) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an incubation garment, designed to keep bacteria containing membrane filters at suitable temperature for incubation. More particularly, it relates to a vest to be worn about the body under the outer clothing. This vest is provided with a series of pockets of suitable size to contain a multiplicity of plastic Petri dishes, and is so constructed that the body heat may pass through to warm the dishes but is prevented from being dissipated by the outer wall of the garment.

Specifically, the invention relates to a vest having a mesh interior wall, a heat reflecting outer wall, the space between said walls being divided off into a series of pockets so constructed that the Petri dishes can he slipped into the individual pockets from the outside, after which a flap falls over the upper edge of the pocket. This vest is so constructed that it can be strapped about the body to form a snug fit irrespective of body size.

Finally, the invention relates to a method of maintaining bacteriological specimens at incubation temperature by utilizing body heat.

In collecting bacteriological specimens the problem of maintaining a constant and suitable incubating temperature is often encountered. This is particularly true in the field trips away from the laboratory where means for maintaining incubation temperatures are not readily available. Since the normal body temperature is very suitable for incubation purposes, the present garment was designed to utilize the temperature of the human body to stimulate growth of such bacteriological specimens.

The garment is constructed to accommodate a standard size 2" transparent plastic Petri dish, containing a membrane filter. One of the outstanding advantages of growing bacteria on such membrane filters is that colony growth can be more readily observed than with conventional methods of culturing organisms in poured agar plates or on surface agar plates. An additional feature of this membrane filter is that organisms collected in the field can be cultured immediately, thus eliminating the time lag and possible loss of organisms in transporting samples to the laboratory. Since human body temperature is normally well controlled, it may be utilized for incubation purposes by placing membrane filters in plastic dishes in a vest worn on the body. The incubation vest described was used in this manner in large scale field tests as part of the equipment for collecting and culturing bacteriological specimens.

Fig. 1 shows the vest being worn and illustrates its relative position on the body together with the necessary straps and adjustments.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the vest showing one type of strap attachment with adjustments and including a cutaway section to show pocket construction. The vest shown has three rows of pockets one above the other,

Earle F. Alexander, Hamburg, Germany, and

structure containing the incubation area.

2,196,208 Patented June 18, 1957 "each row "being divided into seven individual pockets.

side showing the interior mesh wall together with cutaway sections 'through several pockets showing the successive layers of mesh cloth, reflecting. foil and outer cloth layer.

'Fig. 4sh'ows a section through one ofthe pockets which likewise discloses the several walled layers.

Fig. 5 shows an exploded view of the same layers.

In the several views, .10 shows that portion of the vest 12, 12 are the side bands for attaching to the body. '14, 14 are the lower straps which are passed around the 'body and snapped'to'the opposite side of the garment by means of snap fasteners 20. 16 and 18 show the shoulder strap structure which is passed around the upper chest and over the shoulders. Adjustment for size is provided in all of these straps. Lower straps 14 are also adjustable for different size waistlines by means of a multiplicity of snap fasteners 20. It is to be understood that the attachment harness shown is illustrative only and that any suitable type of fastening means is comprehended in the invention since these means are well known in the garment trade. 22 shows the interior nylon mesh which is normally in contact with the body or clothing of the wearer. 24 shows a width of reinforcing cloth which serves to strengthen the area between the horizontal rows of pockets. 26 is an intermediate layer of nylon mesh positioned adjacent the foil surface 28. This foil is in the form of a metal insulated satin fabric called Milium. 30 is the outer layer of oxford cloth which incloses the garment. 32 shows a continuation of the outer wall of the upper pocket which serves as a flap to cover the opening to the next lower pocket. 34 shows the horizontal stitching between pockets. 36 shows the stitching along the upper edge of each pocket. 38 shows a plastic Petri dish in position within the pocket.

The garment is particularly designed for collecting and preserving bacteriological specimens :as they are collected on field trips where means for maintaining a suitable constant incubation temperature is not available. In using the vest in this manner, it is snugly strapped about the body of the wearer :and as the specimens are collected they are slipped into the respective pockets of the garment. Due to the mesh construction of the inner wall of the garment the body heat of the wearer passes freely through this inner wall into the pockets where the specimens are positioned, and due to the heat reflecting structure of the outer wall, the'body heat is prevented from passing out through the garment. As a result, the body heat of the wearer etfectively surrounds the bacteriological specimens and serves to keep them at a constant incubation temperature. In this way the cultures continue growing as they are being collected and since they are never exposed to low temperatures, there is less likelihood of their being lost. Where field trips cover longer periods of time, the garment may be passed from one wearer to the other and may readily be Worn while sleeping, without discomfort. By this means, the cultures collected may have extensive growth by the time they are brought into the laboratory, thereby cutting down the time required for complete incubation.

The vest may be worn next to the body or over the usual indoor clothing. Depending upon temperature conditions, the vest may be worn under any number of outer layers of clothing, and where weather is unusually cold it may be covered with several layers of outer garments. Where outside temperatures are very warm, the heat reflecting foil under the outer cloth layer serves the function of reflecting heat away from the wearer, thereby holding the temperature within the garment below that obtaining outside.

In field trials, constant incubation temperatures of 33 to 35 C., depending on the individual operators temperature, were maintained inside the vests of four operators while outside temperatures ranged from 26 to 39 C.

The same vests were used in additional field trials where the outside temperature ranged from 21 to 24 C. In this case, the only clothing worn was a loose-fitting cotton jacket. Colony incubation was not as rapid as in the first set of trials.

The vest was also Worn in a 4 C. cold room by a subject wearing three layers of outer clothing. Incubation temperatures of 33 to 35 C. were maintained for one hour. Under other extremes, the vest was worn'in temperatures of 102.2 to 104 F. while temperatures within the vest were maintained at 91.4 to 95 We claim:

An incubation garment for keeping specimens at constant temperature comprising a body section having means for attachment around the body of the wearer, said body section having inner and intermediate walls of open mesh porous material, an adjacent continuous outer wall of metallic foil heat reflecting material and an outside wall of heavy fabric material, said body section having a multiplicity of pockets between said layers of porous material, said pockets opening through the outer wall of the garment'and having flaps covering said openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,520,962 North Dec. 30, 1924 1,582,517 Gurwitz Apr. 27, 1926 2,171,676 Wallace Sept. 5, 1939 2,372,971 Moore Apr. 3, 1945 2,627,072 Frommelt et a1 Feb. 3, 1953 2,630,573 Rand Mar. 10, 1953 2,677,646 Lovell May 4, 1954 

